General bullying, appearance-related bullying and teasing and eating psychopathology: the mediation effect of body shame in a sample of adolescent girls

Abstract

Literature has placed emphasis on the role of body shame in the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Moreover, studies have emphasized the relationship between experiences of bullying and appearance-related teasing in the development of eating disorders in adolescents. However, research on body shame, bullying, appearance-related bullying and teasing, and their impact on eating psychopathology remains almost unexplored in adolescence. The current study tests a model aimed at understanding the mediating effect of body shame on the relationship between general bullying and appearance-related bullying and teasing by peers and parents, and eating psychopathology. This study was conducted in a sample of 437 adolescent girls (ages ranging from 12 to 16 years) recruited from middle schools, who answered a set of self-report measures assessing experiences of general bullying, experiences of appearance-related bullying and teasing, body shame, eating psychopathology and general psychopathology. Findings have confirmed that body shame partially mediates the relationship between tendency to be victimized for nonspecific reasons and global eating psychopathology, explaining 49% of its variance. Furthermore, body shame was found to equally mediate the relationship between appearance-related bullying and teasing by peers and eating psychology, explaining 53% of its variance. Findings suggest that, in adolescent girls, higher levels of being bullied or teased regarding one’s physical appearance may increase levels of eating psychopathology, partially via higher levels of body shame.